How can the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction best train correctional mental health providers in the criminal justice system to support persons experiencing suicide or self-injury?
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Project Overview
Summary
Incarcerated persons are at an elevated risk for self-directed violence (SDV), including suicide and self-injury, compared to the general population. SDV and related concerns occupy a considerable amount of staff time and resources, not only for correctional mental health providers but also for correctional system staff more broadly. A recent review of SDV prevention practices in carceral settings indicates a need for better training implementation and use of evidence-based clinical practices. At present, there are no evidence-based SDV prevention training programs developed and validated for correctional settings. This project aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the Core Competency Model of Suicide Prevention Training (CCM-C; Cramer et al., 2022) to account for assessment and intervention needs within a carceral environment.
The proposed specific aims are:
Aim 1: To create the CCM-C training program.
Aim 2: To assess preliminary training effectiveness.
Aim 3: To gather training program quality improvement feedback from corrections stakeholders.
Anticipated deliverables
- Development of a CCM-C toolkit to aid NC Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) mental health providers with assessing and intervening with incarcerated individuals at risk for self-injury; a final project report; and presentation to NCDAC.
Planned use of results
This study can help the NCDAC identify behavioral health needs and target behavioral health resources in the correctional system.
Funding
This project is funded using Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Mental Health Block Grant funds through the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services (DMH/DD/SUS), NC Department of Health and Human Services.
Data
This project will involve primary data collection using surveys of correctional mental health providers.
The project is in progress.
We plan to post results and deliverables when the project is complete. In the meantime, we welcome questions about the project.
Project point of contact
Mark Kobelinski, JD, MBA
Contract Specialist
Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services
mark.kobelinski@dhhs.nc.gov
Project Team
NC Department of Adult Correction
UNC Charlotte